Then How?
by Neko-Houkou
Summary: Sequel to "But Why?" Rise and Teddie just wanted to spy on Naoto and Kanji's first date. Instead they ended up in a rather troublesome situation. T for implied violence, Yu being creepy despite not being present, and Teddie having his innocence "violated"


Instead of working on my three projects which are due in less than a month, I wrote this. I have my priorities in order.

I do not own Persona 4. I do have a cool set of tarot cards though :3

* * *

"Rise-chan." Teddie poked the girl in the side.

"Be quiet Teddie, I'm thinking," she dismissed him with a wave of her hand, staring between the bars of their cell. There was a poster warning of the dangers of drinking and driving directly in the model's line of vision, but if a quick look at her unmoving eyes confirmed that she wasn't even seeing it.

Teddie squirmed on the hard bench. "But Rise-chan, you've been thinking for almost an hour now."

"Yes, Teddie, and I need a little more time to think about this," she responded with a little more heat, but still refused to look at him.

"But Rise, I don't like it in here! And that big man who looks like Kanji but scarier keeps smiling at me funny. EEP!" With a squeal the blonde grabbed his friend around her waist, clinging as though his life depended on it.

The effeminate male now had her full attention as he hugged her midsection like a corset. "What do you think you're doing? Quit squeezing me!"

"I'm a scaredy bear! Rise, protect me from the grizzly looking man!" the blond cried.

Rise couldn't help but agree mentally. Out loud she replied, "Keep your voice down, you're attracting even more attention! Do you want him to come over here and harass _both_ of us?" She shuddered a little at the thought. He was even more muscular than Kanji, with an awful tan and enough tattoos to put a parlor to shame. Did people like that really live in Inaba? "Look, he's stayed on the other side of the room this whole time. Just be quiet and don't make eye contact if you want him to leave you alone." Of course, she didn't want to deal with him either!

"I want to go back to Junes!" the boy whimpered. At least he was being quieter, much to Rise's relief.

She patted the top of his head consolingly. She was rewarded by having him release her from his death grip and sitting up straight. "Just calm down. As soon as we get the chance to make our phone call I'll speak with my agent and he'll have us out of here in a jiffy. In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out how it is we got arrested in the first place."

A paranoid look crossed his face for a moment. Before Rise could even wonder what she could have possible said to upset him, he blurted, "What if Nanako's daddy hears about this? Nanako with think Teddie is a bad bear! Then Teddie will be a sad bear." He hung his head in despair.

Rise patted his head again consolingly. It had worked last time, after all, and now she was feeling genuinely sorry for him. "There, there. I'm sure this is some misunderstanding. Nanako knows you're a good bear. And actually, if Dojima-san were here, I bet he would be willing to help us straighten out this whole mess," she muttered more to herself than to him.

"Do you really think so? I'm so beary happy you think I'm a good bear!" Once again Rise was engulfed in a bear hug.

"Yes, but could you please take it easy with the hugs? And were you even paying attention to what I said about Dojima-san?"

"Okay! I have to save myself for Yukiko, after all!"

Rise couldn't help but smack her palm against her forehead. Clearly the blonde hadn't heard a word. "…Right."

Teddie looked at her with a completely lost expression on his face. "Rise, why did you smack your forehead?"

"Forget it." She dismissed. "Can you explain to me one more time what happened back at Junes?" Perhaps she had missed something in his explanation the first time, or maybe he had left out some small but important detail.

"Well, I was waiting for you and Chie and Yukiko at the food court so we could go spy on Naoto and Kanji!"

Rise had the grace to look offended. "It's not spying, Teddie. We just wanted to make sure their date went well," she responded, trying to save face should the pair in couple question Teddie later.

"Right!" Teddie agreed, completely oblivious to Rise's ulterior motive. "And then I saw this girl, and she was crying. I tried to make her smile with my bearish charms. And then the police officer told me I was under arrest."

An anticlimactic tale, yet somehow it had landed them in jail. "Did he say why he was arresting you?"

"I think he did, but he used such awfully big words. It was beary confusing…" The blonde frowned and started grabbing his head as though he were trying to solve an impossible moral dilemma instead of answering a simple yes or no question.

Rise couldn't help but sigh. "Alright, there's no need to whine. Then I came up and tried to defend you, and I got arrested too as an accomplice," she finished. There was no need to talk about the trip in the back of the police car. "What gives? You didn't take something from the store thinking that it would just go on Yosuke-sempai's tab, did you?" She was grasping at straws, but there had to be some reasonable explanation. Where was Naoto when you needed a 'Prince Detective?'

Oh, yeah, she was on a date with Kanji. Wasn't that how the whole thing had really gotten started anyway?

"Are you implying that I stole something! What a grizzly thing to accuse me of doing!" He looked absolutely mortified as he held his hand to his chest.

"I wasn't implying that you did it intentionally. Maybe they thought you had something that actually belonged to the store," she tried to explain.

Her friend was having none of that, however. "Hmph." He closed his eyes and turned his back to Rise. She had to wonder if he realized he was facing the terrifying man at the other end of the cell.

"There is no reason to stick your nose in the air like that. I'm sorry, okay?" she apologized.

"…I guess I can forgive you, since you're Rise-chan!" he turned back around, but he was still pouting. "But only if you let me hug you!"

"… Fine." She caved, getting glomped for a third time since being arrested.

"Yay!"

Rise noticed motion in her peripherals. The tattooed man was being let out of the cell. An older officer began escorting him out of the room. "… Looks like you're lucky on two counts. The guy who was staring at you is being taken away."

"Really?" Teddie looked up just as the man was passing them. Unnoticed by the officer escorting him, he turned to face the pair. He took a good long look at Teddie, smiled and then did something rather unexpected, causing Teddie to "EEP!"

"Oh, um…" Rise didn't know how to react.

Teddie, on the other hand, decided that shaking and clinging to Rise harder was a good way to respond. "Rise, why did he lick his lips and wink at me?"

Rise blinked a few times. "Uh, well, Teddie… I think he's um…" How did you explain the concept of homosexuality to a being that wasn't even human? Perhaps using Kanji as an example of bisexuality would be a good start…

Suddenly the boy's eyes started tearing up. "Rise, can I never get married now?!" The next moment he was outright sobbing onto Rise.

"Wha- quit crying all over me! You're going to ruin my makeup!" The model yelped, trying to push him away from her.

"UWAH! I was saving myself for Yukiko!" he cried even louder.

"Would you knock it off? Everything's fine. You are still, um, a pure bear?" Rise blurted the first thing that came to mind in an attempt to stop the tears. She was already in a jail cell, but that was no excuse to look less than fabulous.

He stopped crying, much to the girl's relief. "Really?" he asked, staring up at her with wide eyes.

"Yes, now stop sniffling. Everything will be fine. We'll be out of this awful place in a little while, and then you can go cling to Yukiko instead of me." It would be a relief for everyone. Well, everyone except Yukiko.

Teddie smiled, back to his chipper self. "Thank you, Rise-chan. You know, this might be a grizzly place, but being able to spend more time with you makes it so much more bearable."

Rise blushed. She was genuinely flattered that Teddie was so glad for their friendship. "… I guess that's one way of looking at it. We really haven't been able to spend much time together lately, have we?"

"Nope. So I'm really happy that I get to spend time in the hoosecow with you."

"I think you mean hoosegow," Rise corrected.

Teddie tilted his head as though confused. "Huh? What kind of animal is a 'gow'?"

"… Nevermind." Rise resisted the urge to smack her forehead again. It would be awful if she ended up leaving a mark. She looked up when she noticed movement at the edge of her vision. When she turned, she was met with a very welcome sight. "Oh, is that Dojima-san? We're saved!" she cheered.

"Yay, Nanako's daddy came to rescue us!" chimed her friend, also looking as though he desperately wanted to hug the older male.

"Hello Rise, Teddie," Ryotaro greeted as he finally reached their cell. The teen and… bear stood to greet him as he continued. "We just got a call from Rise's lawyer, and I heard you got yourselves into a little misunderstanding."

"Rise-chan, he looks really mad," Teddie whispered not so discreetly.

Rise did her best to elbow him subtely. "Hush, Teddie," she hissed before addressing Dojima in her friendliest voice. "Exactly, Dojima-san, this is just a mistake!"

The man sighed, clearly tired. He looked as though he would rather be anywhere else. "One of your fans caught the incident on tape, and your lawyer is livid. I just need you to come with me for a second to clear things up. I'm sorry, Teddie, but you'll have to wait here for a moment."

"Hurry back please, or I'll be a lonely bear," Teddie called as Dojima let Rise out of the holding cell and led her to his office.

"Please step this way, Rise. I just need to ask, why was Teddie giving a piggy back ride to that child?" Dojima started as soon as Teddie was out of earshot.

"… What?" Rise asked, dumbfounded.

Dojima looked a little lost for words. "You seem sort of surprised, so I guess you weren't aware. Teddie got arrested for supposedly trying to kidnap a young girl. Someone saw him carrying the girl around and called the police. The mother seemed understanding, luckily, and came forward to vouch for Teddie. We just need you to sign some papers since, well, Teddie doesn't actually have any records. You're the only one we've got to clear with the paperwork," he elaborated, offering several papers and a pen as she sat down at his desk.

"… I see," Rise responded carefully, keeping her face turned down so that Dojima wouldn't see the absolutely murderous expression on her face. No amount of friendship was going to keep Teddie safe from her once they got out of here!

"Sign here, and here." Rise obediently signed on each line he gestured to. "Good," he said once she finished, collecting the papaers and tapping them on the desk to straighten them out. "Now, I hate to say it, but you're going to have to go back to the cell and sit with Teddie for a little while longer while we file this."

Rise stood and finally looked up at him, a rather… disturbing smile plastered across her face. Ryotaro hated to admit it, but it was almost enough to give his nephew a run for his money.

Then the older man took a moment to imagine the look on said nephew's face when he had left to go help Yosuke at Junes that morning... Perhaps Rise wasn't quite as creepy.

"Don't worry, Dojima-san. I would be more than _happy_ to spend more _quality_ time with my _adorable_ friend."

The venom in her tone set off some warning bells in the detective's head. "Rise, are you alright? You're smiling, but I get the sense that something's off."

"Everything is fine, promise!" she chirped as he escorted her back to the holding cell.

"Hm, you sound almost as chipper as Yu did when I left this morning." He had to admit. "Maybe it's a teenage thing…" he muttered more to himself than to the model as he reopened the cell door and Rise walked in without protest.. "Anyway, I'll be back in a few minutes. Then I'll give you two a lift back to Junes, okay?" he addressed them both.

"Yes, sir." Rise agreed.

"Thank you Mr. Nanako's dad! Bye bye!" Teddie even waved as the man disappeared from sight.

The second he was gone the smile melted off of her face. "… Teddie," she deadpanned, not looking at him right away.

"…Why do you look so scary, Rise?" he asked her profile.

When she finally turned to face him, he started sweating. "Teddie, why were you carrying around someone else's child?" she asked, malice dripping from her tone.

"I already told you, she was crying and I was trying to make her laugh… Rise?" he asked as she moved toward him. "What are you doing? Rise!" he was started to get really scared and made a scamble toward the other side of the cell.

"Why are you trying to run away from me, Teddie? Now that Dojima-san is gone, I thought you would want to spend some time together!" She continued her march in his direction, and it was finally clear to the bear that no shadow was as dangerous as Rise Kujikawa.

"Rise, please don't kill me!" he pleaded, but she seemed not to hear. "Mr. Dojima, come back! Sempai? Anyone? HELP!"


End file.
